Promises, Promises, Promises!

 

In the July 9^th SPLOST article in the Douglas County Sentinel by Winston Jones, the article mentioned that the voters are confused about what they are voting for and how the money will be divided. Based on the information the county has provided the pubic, it is no wonder why there is confusion. After attending the informational meeting Monday night, I have learned that county officials are also confused about the facts.

Chairman Tom Worthan said the money will be split 60/40 from the first dollar collected. The fact is, by state law and the resolution signed by the Board of Commissioners, Level One projects (New Jail) can consume up to100% of the SLPOST revenues collected before it can be applied to any other projects. This means that if the proposed jail cost exceeds the estimates, revenues will be pulled from other projects to satisfy the jail cost.

Douglasville, Austell and Villa Rica know there are no guarantees the cities will get any of the money promised by this SPLOST. Because all projects listed in the SPLOST proposal cannot, by law, be abandoned, property owners will be required to cover the shortfalls through higher property taxes.

Time and time again county officials have threatened property owners with tax increases if they do not pass this SPLOST. But the fact is unknown operational costs of a new jail and cost overruns on the proposed projects, like the 300% cost overruns at the Aquatic Center, put property owners at risk of tax increases.

Do you believe that Douglas County will lower your property taxes if the SPLOST passes? Have your property taxes decreased in the past 10 years? Do you really believe Tom Worthan will roll back your taxes?

Promises, promises, promises!

In Cobb County, voters passed a $1.2 billion SPLOST (by only 114 votes) after being threatened with higher property taxes. Yet less than a year later, the county has announced that property taxes will be increased by over 4%.

Worthan claims that if the SPLOST fails, property taxes would have to be used to fund the jail and the cost will be under $600 per home over the six year period. But based on a county population of 110,000, the SPLOST will cost $1,318 for every man woman and child over the same period.

The truth about the 75% matching road funds from D.O.T., is all qualified road projects are already eligible to receive matching funds on state and federal levels. SPLOST is not the goose that laid the golden egg!

One other interesting issue is why the SPLOST was placed on the primary ballot. Special and primary elections are typically used for tax proposals because officials know that fewer voters tend to vote in these elections. In Cobb’s special election only 10% of voters turned out for a one issue ballot. Meaning 5% of voters passed a billion dollar tax on 100% of the population. This is just one more ploy by Commissioner Worthan to undermine public participation in our county government. Worthan has a history of attempting to shut out public input by eliminating the evening business meetings so working class folks are unable to attend, and refusing to allow citizens to speak at board meetings.

This is why your vote is so important. We must send a clear message to our elected officials that they must use our tax dollars responsibly. If they cannot manage to operate our county with the revenues they already have, we must elect officials who can.

Vote NO to this SPLOST on July 18^th.

Thank you,

James Bell

Douglas County Taxpayers Coalition

www.dctc.wordpress.com